2024-09-02 21:37:35
CDU leader Friedrich Merz offers Olaf Scholz close cooperation on migration policy issues. Scholz initially did not agree and asked for time to think about it.
In his “very good atmosphere” conversation with Olaf Scholz, CDU leader Friedrich Merz made several suggestions to limit illegal migration to Germany. Scholz did not agree spontaneously, but promised a quick response, Merz explained on Tuesday afternoon after the meeting with Scholz in the Chancellery in Berlin. In the afternoon, Scholz explained that the government and the opposition are always well advised to work together.
“He did not spontaneously express his agreement, but he did say that he would consider it and give me a response shortly. In my view, that is fine,” said Merz. He assumed that the Chancellor would “not turn down this offer.” “The country is now slipping away from the Chancellor,” explained Merz. He had also told Scholz this very clearly.
He wants to find common solutions with Scholz, if necessary without the other traffic light coalition members. The CDU/CSU and SPD together have a majority in the Bundestag. “If we pull together – the CDU/CSU and SPD – then we don’t need the FDP or the Greens to make the necessary legal changes,” said the CDU leader.
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First, the right of residence must be changed. At the moment, more emphasis is being placed on controlling immigration than on limiting it. “The word ‘limitation’ should be reinstated,” said Merz.
In addition, people who apply for asylum at the German border must be turned away. According to Merz, asylum applications must be submitted at the border of the first country of entry into the EU, which is definitely not Germany. If this is not compatible with EU law, Germany must declare a national emergency.
Merz said of his hour-long conversation with the Chancellor that they had “spoken well”. Now it was up to Scholz to decide how things would proceed. But for him it was clear: “It can’t be done is no longer an argument that I accept, it has to be made feasible.”
He vehemently disagrees with SPD co-chair Saskia Esken, who said that politicians cannot learn anything from the Solingen attack. There is a loss of control over migration and this must be changed. “There is no taboo, we can talk about all the rules,” Merz added, referring to the Basic Law and European laws. First of all, it is up to the national legislator.
Merz is also prepared to amend the Basic Law to solve migration problems. Article 16a of the Basic Law regulates the right to asylum. A two-thirds majority in the Bundestag and Bundesrat is required for an amendment.
Article 16a also states that anyone who enters Germany via a European Union state or another safe third country cannot invoke the right to asylum. According to the Dublin rules, the EU state in which a refugee arrives is responsible for an asylum procedure.
Merz stressed that this rule was the first one that had to be complied with again. “And if it cannot be complied with, then I am convinced that we have the right to turn people back at Germany’s external borders. And we must make use of this. Otherwise we will not be able to get the problem under control.”
Merz said they wanted to fulfill their international obligations. “But we also want to be able to fulfill them. We can no longer fulfill them at the moment.”
Merz also stressed that only a “small percentage of the people who have entered the country are causing us problems.” A large proportion of migrants live completely inconspicuously in Germany and try to integrate. But: Of the currently over one million Syrians, more than half live on citizen’s income. This shows that integration is not going well. “Most of those who are here are not causing us any problems, except that there are too many of them in total.” The immigration authorities are completely overloaded, which inevitably leads to mistakes.